A new statue installed atop a New York City courthouse is raising some outrage on Twitter.
On Wednesday, brand consultant Andrew Beck tweeted a picture of a gold-colored statue sitting atop a courthouse in the nation’s largest city.
A new statue atop a New York City courthouse. The artist says it’s part of an “urgent and necessary cultural reckoning underway as New York reconsiders traditional representations of power in public spaces and recasts civic structures to better reflect 21st-century social mores.” pic.twitter.com/4IFRj7hCsf
— Andrew Beck (@AndrewBeckUSA) January 25, 2023
The New York Times describes the statue as a “shimmering, golden eight-foot female sculpture, emerging from a pink lotus flower and wearing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s signature lace collar.”
“Staring regally ahead with hair braided like spiraling horns, the sculpture, installed as part of an exhibition that opened last week, is the first female to adorn one of the courthouse’s 10 plinths, dominated for more than a century by now weathered statues representing great lawgivers throughout the ages — all of them men,” the paper explained.
The statue was crafted by Pakistani artist Shahzia Sikander who said it is “part of an urgent and necessary cultural reckoning underway as New York, along with cities across the world, reconsiders traditional representations of power in public spaces and recasts civic structures to better reflect 21st-century social mores.”
Sikander named the work “NOW” because she believes it is needed “now.”
Conservatives panned the statue.
New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino asked, “Was there any public input whatsoever before a satanic golden medusa demon with tentacle arms was installed atop a downtown courthouse? Who thinks this is okay? And how do we go about removing it?”
Was there any public input whatsoever before a satanic golden medusa demon with tentacle arms was installed atop a downtown courthouse?
— Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) January 26, 2023
Who thinks this is okay? And how do we go about removing it? https://t.co/qS0KlwgHVb
“Bizarre resemblance to Satanic imagery,” wrote Mary Margaret Olohan, a reporter for The Daily Signal.
Bizarre resemblance to Satanic imagery https://t.co/cFEWulcm9M
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) January 26, 2023
The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles tweeted, “The next Republican mayor of New York should not only remove but publicly destroy this monstrosity.”
The next Republican mayor of New York should not only remove but publicly destroy this monstrosity. https://t.co/mgK5iyoyj2
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) January 25, 2023
Conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong wrote, “Very cool. A demonic statue that represents justice in New York City.”
Very cool. A demonic statue that represents justice in New York City. https://t.co/uAXb1KfXgB
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 25, 2023
Writer John Hawkins tweeted, “I wasn’t a fan of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but even she deserves better than that ugly, satanic-looking eyesore.”
I wasn't a fan of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but even she deserves better than that ugly, satanic-looking eyesore.
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) January 25, 2023
According to The Times, the statue will remain atop the courthouse until June when it will be moved to Houston, Texas.
